iT MAY NOT BE THE PERCULATOR U KNOW BUT iT WAS THE ONE i WAS TAUGHT SO GET THE FUK OVER iT PEOPLE...iTS JUST A DANCE! DAMN!posted by Kloryne at 6:14 PM on February 2, 2010

Eight of the YouTube videos spell it "perculator", two spell it "percolator". According to majority vote by YouTube posters, the song is now called "It's Time For the Perculator" for the duration of this post.

Sorry for the derail, empath. I'd never heard this music before and I like the post.posted by ardgedee at 6:14 PM on February 2, 2010

I feel like I went to sleep thinking of Metafilter, but dreamed of /r/WTF/ instead.posted by e.e. coli at 7:15 PM on February 2, 2010

Yeah, I know it was the early nineties but did those of dancing age even know what a percolator is / was? Drip Coffee Maker would make for a poor dance move, though French Press has promise.posted by Morrigan at 7:15 PM on February 2, 2010 [1 favorite]

You know, this reminds me; if you were in Chicago within a few years of this song coming out, then you probably remember a local Speed Racer-themed hit that featured a simulated aural sex scene between the characters of Speed Racer, right in the middle of the song, using all the gasps et al from the show. When the Speed Racer movie came out a few years ago, I thought for sure that song would surface again -- and yet I never heard nor saw so much as a hint of it on the Internet or in Los Angeles.

and now that song's going through my head like it's the 90s all over again goddammitposted by davejay at 7:21 PM on February 2, 2010

It's time for the slender, crisp tube of Starbucks instant coffee.
It's time for the slender, crisp tube of Starbucks instant coffee.
It's time for the slender, crisp tube of Starbucks instant coffee.posted by e.e. coli at 7:22 PM on February 2, 2010

Here's an article about it in fact, and now it's on youtube although I couldn't find it there at the time.posted by davejay at 7:24 PM on February 2, 2010

Oh, and if anyone wants to meet up at China Club or Neo, I, um, won't be there. But I'll be thinking of you.posted by davejay at 7:25 PM on February 2, 2010 [2 favorites]

Not to fill this whole thread up with random comments, but can someone remix this into "it's time for the MetaFilter (podcast)"?posted by davejay at 7:27 PM on February 2, 2010 [1 favorite]

Wow, there's a flashback for you. The only time I ever went to Medoucheas was their final night. For some reason there was a month or so where we were hanging out with Ministry (mostly at the Crash Palace) and we were there for the final night of the club. What a weird time that was.posted by NoMich at 7:28 PM on February 2, 2010 [1 favorite]

oh, nm, the keoki version was a remix -- i heard that mix first :)posted by empath at 7:30 PM on February 2, 2010

I feel sorry for anybody who ever got an earworm out of that melody-free repetitive rhythm. Boring!posted by oneswellfoop at 7:34 PM on February 2, 2010

OK, I want to argue that repetition can be awesome / beautiful / powerful in itself and doesn't need melodic lines to justify its musical existence. One person's "melody-free repetitive rhythm" can be another person's favorite groove.

I once had some very minimal techno playing in the background at a party when a friend (and rather self-serious composer) complained, "This is just a repetitive beat." To which I said, "Yes, and?" and went back to making dinner.

By the way, davejay, I do have that Speed Racer track on a mixtape from 97 or 98 (when I was living in Indiana and coming up to rave in the Chiacgo scene frequently), but I have no tape deck at the moment, alas…posted by LMGM at 9:40 PM on February 2, 2010 [1 favorite]

Also, empath: marry me.

…presuming you are a dude and living in a state where two dudes can marry. Mind you, if you make a DJ Funk / DJ Assault FPP, I am yours regardless.posted by LMGM at 9:43 PM on February 2, 2010

I don't think there really is a specific percolator dance, tbh. Or if there is, it's different in every city.

I think Percolator is interesting because one of those underground anthems that never bubbled up into the mainstream, but lots of different urban sub-cultures claimed it as their own. It's a Chicago house track, but Baltimore people think of it as their own, too, and you'll often see it listed in Baltimore Club compilations because it's been a massive track in Baltimore going on 20 years now.posted by empath at 11:43 PM on February 2, 2010

Between the years 1984 and 1987, my Saturday evening ritual went something like this: dine with family, excuse myself, change into a fresh mock-t, apply gel. Grab mixtape and dupe for a friend from the dual cassette deck. Promise to be home by 3am, 3:30 at the latest (usually, it was closer to 5).

Collect friends, proceed to tri-state tollway on-ramp. Pass beanie for change for the tollbooth. Damn. Blow through tollbooth, set bearings on the glow of downtown Chicago, 20 miles southward. Tune in to 107.5 FM just as Farley "Funkin'" Keith kicks off a set on WBMX's "Saturday night live ain't no jive" dance party. The mixtape can wait for the drive home.

Park under the L off West School. Retrieve wine coolers from trunk. Slug our Bartles and Jaymes before the temperature inside the car matches the sub-freezing temperature outside the car. Dump empties in dumpster under the tracks. Walk past shivering freaks huddled along a brick wall of a non-descript four-story brick building on the corner of N. Sheffield and W. School. Step to front of line, flash Medusa's Gold Card, squeeze past Blue the Bouncer, scramble up the steepest three-story wood staircase on the planet.

I'm surprised that there are supposed to be codified dance moves for this, so it's nice to see everyone was dancing however they pleased back in the day. Also glad to see it's still popular.posted by o0o0o at 3:55 AM on February 3, 2010

Mind you, if you make a DJ Funk / DJ Assault FPP, I am yours regardless.

And great post; takes me back to being in the Detroit scene where the local ghettotech DJs also claimed the Percolator as their own. One of the few songs that could always help fill an empty dancefloor (I think I still have my vinyl copies tucked away somewhere, might have to dust them off now..).posted by p3t3 at 4:33 AM on February 3, 2010 [1 favorite]

In DC, there's a bus system called "The Circulator." Every time my husband and I would wait for it, he would start chanting "It's time for The Circulator. It's time for the Circulator. It's time for the Circulator..." I really thought he was having some kind of aspergers-esque tic. I was wrong, he's just hilarious.posted by montaigneisright at 4:52 AM on February 3, 2010 [9 favorites]

Metafilter: Searching YouTube so you don't have to!posted by tommasz at 6:00 AM on February 3, 2010

Tags

Share

About MetaFilter

MetaFilter is a weblog that anyone can contribute a link or a comment to. A typical weblog is one person posting their thoughts on the unique things they find on the web. This website exists to break down the barriers between people, to extend a weblog beyond just one person, and to foster discussion among its members.